A/N: So I came up with this idea for a story while re-watching Iron Man 3 and I noticed something very cute and very adorable and very feelsy hanging on the fireplace next to Pepper and Tony's stockings. So, of course, I wrote a one-shot about it. Like you do.
Thanks to the wonderful beta thestarkedsoldier as always :D love you lots chickie doo.
If you like it - and even if you don't – review and favorite! It'll be a party for everyone! :D
Stockings
It was Christmas Eve and Tony Stark was freaking out. There was no stopping the excitement exploding from his four year old body, bouncing off the walls. His eyes gleamed as he ran from floor to floor of the mansion, taking in the decorations laced around every railing - not to mention the five different trees scattered around the different rooms of the house. Every blink of the Christmas trees' lights, every tinkle of the bells around the door handles, every rustle of the garland, had Tony ecstatic. Every kid his age was reasonably excited, but what he was currently feeling was the most innocent, pure and joyous emotion in the entire world.
He skipped down the last flight of stairs to reach the ground floor, a beaming smile crossing his face. Christmas was his favorite holiday, the one time of year his entire family could be together. His mother tried to be around, he gave her credit for that, but his four year old mind couldn't wrap around the fact that she wasn't there when he woke up in the morning and when he tucked himself in to go to bed. His father, on the other hand, consumed himself in his work that he almost forgot what a family was. Tony was alone for 364 days of the year, except for Christmas.
Well, almost alone.
"Master Stark!" came the shout from a few floors above where Tony was currently sprawled out from under one of the several trees. "Master Stark!"
As Tony heard the footsteps lumbering down the stairs, he rolled out from under the tree, covering in tiny green needles and bits of garland. "I'm right here!" he announced gleefully.
A pair of black shoes greeted him before knees emerged and then a torso and shoulders before finally a kind weathering face. A smile and a shake of his head was all that Tony needed to leap to his feet, the excitement just oozing out of every muscle and bone in the kid's body.
"Did you think you lost me, Jarvis?" Tony squealed excitedly.
"Well, Master Stark, it is a big house," Edwin Jarvis grinned, standing up from where he was crouching next to Tony. "I merely wanted to share with you that lunch is ready."
Tony raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest. "Is there candy canes? And sugar cookies?" he questioned. "Oh, and gingerbreads?"
Jarvis shook his head once more. "Sandwiches first, and your carrots," he insisted. "Then, you may possibly indulge in a cookie or two."
At the small victory, Tony gave a little hop where he stood and let Jarvis lead the way into the kitchen. He had a feeling today was going to be a good day.
Edwin Jarvis had been the Starks' personal assistant and butler for longer than anyone could remember. He had been the reason for Tony's upbringing and that wasn't going to end anytime soon. Tony, on the other hand, had no plans of letting Jarvis leave their family. He was the only thing real he had left.
When Jarvis allowed for Tony and himself to eat their sandwiches in the side room, Tony reaffirmed his thoughts from earlier. It was the day before Christmas and Jarvis was being extra supportive, knowing how much the holiday meant to the little boy. There was no way the butler was letting anything ruin Tony's day.
Jarvis wandered over to the fireplace, having finished his lunch at slower pace than Tony's - merely because the boy was eager for dessert. He had grabbed a gingerbread and sugar cookie for Tony, as promised, who had chewed them as if he had never seen sweets before. Currently, however, the temperature was rapidly decreasing as the day went on, even for California. Jarvis removed the stockings from the fireplace, all three clearly labeled Howard, Maria and Tony, and placed them on the table next to him, before he started the gas in the mantle. The flames ignited immediately.
Jarvis sighed, warming his hands before he moved to sit back down on the couch next to Tony. However, to his shock, Tony was standing right next to him.
"Jarvis?" Tony questioned, picking up each individual stocking and setting it back down.
Jarvis tilted his head to one side as he watched the little boy play with the stockings. "Yes, Master Stark?" he responded.
"Why don't you have a stocking?"
Jarvis froze in his spot, simply staring at Tony in wonderment. He opened and close his mouth a few times, stumbling over formulating words. "I am not a Stark," he finally decided on, bowing his head slowly.
"But you're a part of the family!" Tony insisted, refusing to let the matter go. "You deserve to have one. You're here with the rest of us on Christmas!"
"Master Stark-" Jarvis tried to say but the idea had already been implanted into Tony's brain.
In a moment, Tony had leapt up from his seat in excitement and tore out of the room. Jarvis tried calling after the young boy but he was long gone. The butler sighed in exhaustion, collapsing on the couch as he awaited Tony's return.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying his hardest to be disappointed but on the inside, he couldn't help but grin.
It was about twenty minutes before Tony found what he was looking for. It was hidden deep under his parents' bed, along with the rest of last year's holiday junk. An empty stocking. Smiling in success, Tony pulled out the stocking, before the grin quickly faded as he noticed the holes in the green fabric.
"Shoot," he frowned, shaking his head. There had to be another solution.
He managed to find some extra orange fabric in the top of his mother's sewing drawer - getting to the top of the drawer was an adventure within itself but that was hardly the point. It only took a few pieces of Scotch tape for the orange fabric to cover up the holes in the stocking, and then it was off to find a marker.
Another few moments of pure concentration for the four year old and Tony had printed in his best and neatest handwriting: Jarvis.
His eyes immediately lit up at his work and he grabbed the stocking, running down the stairs two at a time. "Jarvis!" he shouted. "Jarvis!"
And as he presented his butler and best friend with the stocking that he so proudly made, Jarvis couldn't help but have his eyes fill up with tears. He wouldn't have wanted to be a part of any other family.
He hung the rest of the stockings back on the fireplace as Tony reached up on his tip toes and hung Jarvis's stocking next to his own. Before his caretaker could pull away however, he wrapped his arms around his legs in the biggest hug he could manage. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.
Thirty years later, the stocking still held up.
As Tony pulled it out of one of the many holiday boxes, a sense of wistfulness washed over him, much like it did every year around this time. He held it up to the light, a tiny smile crossing his face as he recalled the very same day that he made this. He ran his fingertips across the fabric before moving to hang it next to his and Pepper's on the fireplace.
"Merry Christmas Jarvis," he whispered.
"Merry Christmas Mister Stark," came the natural response of the computer JARVIS. And while Tony cracked a smile, it wasn't the same.
"Merry Christmas JARVIS," Tony spoke to the AI this time, nodding slowly before he shut off the lights.